559 posts
|
Post by danieljohnson14 on May 1, 2019 19:33:05 GMT
oh so those are the venues to catch, guess I'm seeing Annie again! |
|
172 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Sean on May 1, 2019 20:05:40 GMT
I had no idea that was the case. Thank you!! |
|
3,325 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on May 1, 2019 21:59:31 GMT
Good to hear it’s Jodie, safe for me to book now!
|
|
5,139 posts
|
Post by Being Alive on May 1, 2019 23:11:35 GMT
Jodie was a wonderful Hannigan in Oxford - She’s the best person I’ve seen in the role
|
|
4,177 posts
|
Post by HereForTheatre on May 2, 2019 8:01:18 GMT
Full dislosure that I've only seen her announced for Birmingham personally but given all the hannigans have their own run I'd assume she's doing all those other venues also.
|
|
5,138 posts
|
Post by TallPaul on May 3, 2019 8:18:21 GMT
The dates just about work for Jodie Penger, but she opens in A Taste of Honey on 13 September.
As that is a National Theatre production, I would expect the rehearsal period to be longer than a week and a bit.
|
|
4,177 posts
|
Post by HereForTheatre on May 3, 2019 8:30:47 GMT
Maybe she's only doing Birminghan. That's her only venue confirmed so far.
|
|
172 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Sean on May 3, 2019 14:17:51 GMT
The website seems to suggest it is only Birmingham she is appearing at.
|
|
172 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Sean on May 7, 2019 16:57:00 GMT
Confirmed Jodie is also doing Dublin
|
|
|
|
Post by tommy123 on May 7, 2019 17:40:22 GMT
I wonder who will do Eastbourne and Cardiff. It's only three weeks so doubt they'd get someone brand new. So I guess either Craig, Lesley Joseph (think it clashes with Calendar Girls), Anita, Jodie (think someone said it clashes with A Taste of Honey). Or someone who did it in London? Maybe Miranda or Meera might return?
(Or they just trust an understudy...)
|
|
3,325 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Aug 3, 2019 22:37:07 GMT
Caught the tour again at the Birmingham Hippodrome tonight. This really is a great feelgood show.
The Stalls were about half full, so not great, but they don't discount Saturday evenings. There are lots of reduced price offers for kids in the week. The audience just didn't get the jokes at all here, even the obvious ones based around US history, but perhaps another downside of it not being full and having that atmosphere.
There weren't many kids in and had an excellent well-behaved one on my row, who stood up and applauded the orchestra at the end. Unfortunately, there was also a mother and daughter in the row behind who kept talking, one of them had a phone screen that kept lighting up and they also had what I presume was a sealed multi-pack of crisps buried at the bottom of full carrier bag based on two minutes of rustling (followed by about 10 minutes of crunching rounds). Staring did no good.
I was at the front row in one of the restricted view seats (no real restriction, just off to the edge of the stage). There's a gap between the front row and the stage anyway, due to the orchestra pit.
Daisy Bowles was on as Grace. I had to really hunt in the interval to find a cover notice, eventually finding one on a pillar with incredibly small text on it (presumably they didn't want anyone to notice it). No cast board, but all the other leads were on. They don't announce which Annie is on, I think it was Freya Yates, but not 100%.
Both Daisy (as Grace) and whichever Annie it was were fine. Amber (Sandy) still looks like it doesn't want to be there (the noisy girl behind actually asked her mum, "Is that a real dog?"). Lots of standouts, thought Gary David was great this time as FDR and Alex Bourne is always excellent as Daddy Warbucks. George Rae really nailed his brief song as Bert Healy as well.
The sound was also rather unbalanced, with the vocals hard to make out in a lot of the songs. No doubt I made that worse for myself being sat by the orchestra.
Very glad to have seen Jodie Prenger as Miss Hannigan. She's only with the tour for a short time and presumably isn't considered important enough to even make the cast page on the tour website. She was very good, sang the songs the best of the Hannigans I've seen, with a pure voice. Didn't overplay the comedy either.
Lesley Joseph is Miss Hannigan for all the remaining dates (apart from Cardiff, which is CRH). I know she's played the role off and on for years, but I do hope to catch her before the tour ends.
I wouldn't mind catching Jodie again, but there are absolutely no single person discounts for Birmingham (lots if you want to bring a family) and the Hippodrome isn't a cheap venue to attend. So, I'll see this with Lesley in an ATG theatre, where they tend to look for ways to fill it. But it's the same tour/London production that's played for a few years now, you know what you're getting and you know it's going to be a decent night out.
|
|
|
|
Post by learfan on Aug 4, 2019 7:23:16 GMT
Caught the tour again at the Birmingham Hippodrome tonight. This really is a great feelgood show. The Stalls were about half full, so not great, but they don't discount Saturday evenings. There are lots of reduced price offers for kids in the week. The audience just didn't get the jokes at all here, even the obvious ones based around US history, but perhaps another downside of it not being full and having that atmosphere. There weren't many kids in and had an excellent well-behaved one on my row, who stood up and applauded the orchestra at the end. Unfortunately, there was also a mother and daughter in the row behind who kept talking, one of them had a phone screen that kept lighting up and they also had what I presume was a sealed multi-pack of crisps buried at the bottom of full carrier bag based on two minutes of rustling (followed by about 10 minutes of crunching rounds). Staring did no good. I was at the front row in one of the restricted view seats (no real restriction, just off to the edge of the stage). There's a gap between the front row and the stage anyway, due to the orchestra pit. Daisy Bowles was on as Grace. I had to really hunt in the interval to find a cover notice, eventually finding one on a pillar with incredibly small text on it (presumably they didn't want anyone to notice it). No cast board, but all the other leads were on. They don't announce which Annie is on, I think it was Freya Yates, but not 100%. Both Daisy (as Grace) and whichever Annie it was were fine. Amber (Sandy) still looks like it doesn't want to be there (the noisy girl behind actually asked her mum, "Is that a real dog?"). Lots of standouts, thought Gary David was great this time as FDR and Alex Bourne is always excellent as Daddy Warbucks. George Rae really nailed his brief song as Bert Healy as well. The sound was also rather unbalanced, with the vocals hard to make out in a lot of the songs. No doubt I made that worse for myself being sat by the orchestra. Very glad to have seen Jodie Prenger as Miss Hannigan. She's only with the tour for a short time and presumably isn't considered important enough to even make the cast page on the tour website. She was very good, sang the songs the best of the Hannigans I've seen, with a pure voice. Didn't overplay the comedy either. Lesley Joseph is Miss Hannigan for all the remaining dates (apart from Cardiff, which is CRH). I know she's played the role off and on for years, but I do hope to catch her before the tour ends. I wouldn't mind catching Jodie again, but there are absolutely no single person discounts for Birmingham (lots if you want to bring a family) and the Hippodrome isn't a cheap venue to attend. So, I'll see this with Lesley in an ATG theatre, where they tend to look for ways to fill it. But it's the same tour/London production that's played for a few years now, you know what you're getting and you know it's going to be a decent night out. Im going Wednesday night. Ive booked rear stalls, the rest of the stalls looked available on the site so im hoping they either close the rear or we just move forward. Sadly im not that surprised, yhe Hippodrome like a lot of regional theatres is simply too big and unless it is a cast iron hit like Lion King, Les Mis or a huge star, they wont sell out. Still i mainly booked cos of Jodie Prenger. Looking forward to it m |
|
|
|
Post by learfan on Aug 7, 2019 23:17:59 GMT
Saw this last night. Really good, Prenger excellent as was Bourne. Agree about the dog, wasnt enthusiastic! House about two thirds full, not too many kids, though had to put up with usual shuffling off to the loo. Recommended.
|
|
|
|
Post by learfan on Aug 7, 2019 23:19:23 GMT
Oops should have added the child actors were amazing, we had Mia Lakha as Annie, very good.
|
|
20 posts
|
Post by theatregeek1 on Aug 8, 2019 10:27:27 GMT
They’ve just done a kids cast change so glad to hear Mia’s good, her debut performance was Tuesday 6th!
|
|
128 posts
|
Post by emeraldbaudelaire on Oct 15, 2019 19:29:04 GMT
Anyone seen Lesley Joseph yet?
|
|
3,325 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Nov 13, 2019 8:53:38 GMT
Saw this last night in Wimbledon, which I believe is the penultimate week of the current tour (although I wouldn't be surprised if there are more dates to come).
As always, a great feel good show.
Lesley Joseph is excellent and has her own take on Miss Hannigan.
Not much to add on previous reviews. It wasn't terribly full, which was a shame, and there was one parent who thought it funny when her little girl would yell out things Annie had said, such as "Oh Gee!"
I think we had Ava Smith as Annie, who was great, although very precise with pronouncing every syllable in some of the songs. Amber (who played Sandy) didn't look all that keen on being there.
There have been some small changes to the cast. The most notable one was Susannah Van Den Berg playing Bert Healey, most notable as I've only ever seen the role played by a man before. She did great.
The lady next to me had been following the tour around and has a lot of performances scheduled over the next two weeks. She was up on her feet to give a standing ovation the second the show finished.
Always enjoyable. I do hope this tours again next year.
|
|
|
|
Post by craig on Nov 13, 2019 9:57:36 GMT
Annie is one of those musicals that sets my teeth on edge a bit. The sort of musical that makes people hate musicals.
I'm kind of amazed there's a market for it in the UK in 2019.
|
|
3,325 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Nov 13, 2019 12:55:37 GMT
Annie is one of those musicals that sets my teeth on edge a bit. The sort of musical that makes people hate musicals. I'm kind of amazed there's a market for it in the UK in 2019. It's about a billionaire looking for an 11 year old girl to share his life with. What's wrong with that? |
|
2,416 posts
|
Post by robertb213 on Nov 13, 2019 16:36:23 GMT
It is a bit twee these days but it's got some cracking songs in it 😀
|
|
128 posts
|
Post by emeraldbaudelaire on Nov 13, 2019 20:56:37 GMT
Caught this in Belfast Lesley Joseph was great as Hannigan and her voice is still quite strong though I noticed she didn't sing in her wonderful New York accent she was great as Miss Hannigan.
I have to say Jenny Gayner really stood out to me as Lily her acting, singing and silhouette in general was so striking.
It was a great show, I will say though when bigger commercial projects come to a smaller venue like Belfast the audience experience can be difficult.
|
|
|
|
Post by craig on Nov 14, 2019 13:02:48 GMT
As the last West End run proved, the show is bullet-proof - and they machine-gunned it in front of us to underline the fact. Ha! |
|
20 posts
|
Post by theatregeek1 on Dec 2, 2021 19:02:05 GMT
|
|
2,416 posts
|
Post by robertb213 on Dec 5, 2021 17:34:46 GMT
Watching this now - such a charming musical, and Celina Smith is doing a great job as Annie. Can't believe she's only 13, she's going to be a star 🌟
|
|
|
|
Post by johnie21 on Jun 29, 2022 14:21:15 GMT
|
|
